Jealous of Good

Daniel 6:1-4 It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, 2 with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. 3 Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. 4 At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.
 
YOU could see the administrators’ opposition to Daniel as a political battle. One always attacks the person at the top in the hope he will fall. Others are eager to assume the privileged position.
    But this is more than politics. It is evil attempting to overthrow good. Satan always works to destroy God’s goodness. We have seen in the previous five chapters that Daniel’s excellence comes from his daily fellowship with God. His faithfulness to righteous living affects the daily function of a pagan culture. He is a light in the darkness, displaying God’s good deeds. (Matthew 5:16)
    As we’ve mentioned earlier, Daniel’s submission to these ungodly authorities allows him to work to glorify God. He is not a troublemaker with a rebellious nature. Daniel accepts his destiny as God’s design for his life. He is a faithful steward of God’s Word in the darkness.
    We live in an unbelieving culture, too. God’s light shines into the pagan world when you are trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. You demonstrate to the world, to the church, to your families and to your neighbors how good life is when one walks in the light. Yes, opposition may point to us and ridicule us. But let us remember there is, as one minister has recently said, “only an audience of one”. Our LORD God is the only one we must please as we consider life’s choices. To his faithful in an opposing world, he speaks to us:
 
Acts 26:17-18 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.